John Benage is a former teacher and current fundraiser for a non-profit organization, in Texas. As an educator and public speaker as well as in his fundraising work, Mr. Benage has often employed stories to get his point across. Beginning his fundraising career in Iowa rekindled fond memories of rural years during his childhood. Oak Grove, a novel, is a result of reknidled memories that have evolved in the story telling style that developed over the years. The setting is in western Missouri on eight acres of land, often called "an acreage," in a community known as Oak Grove. Enjoy the adventures and antics of Petey Arbuckle and his siblings as they explore the acerage, house, outbuildings, surrounding countryside and western United States. Growth of these children is marginally evident over the three-year span of this story; sibling rivalry a fact of life; pranks,wit and one-upmanship the order of the day. Hard lessons of life are not left out and in the end become character builders. Whilethe stories and characters are pure fiction, the mood and attitudes depict life pretty much as it was in the Midwest during the 1950's.